Prototype Initial Impressions

I'll preface this with the statement - this is my impressions, plain and simple, off of the first hour or so of gameplay. Take of it what you will, but let's not turn this into a flaming war, mkay? Only other word of warning - I'm going to try to keep this spoiler free, but won't guarentee it. If in doubt, stop reading.

I picked up Prototype for my eldest son as one of his 14th birthday gifts. He was drawn to it by some of the trailers and early footage, and has enjoyed the sandbox games he's played in the past. I was hesitant at first, for several reasons. First, I picked up inFAMOUS at launch, and have been enjoying that title to a large degree, as has my son. Where Prototype shares the same sandbox design, I was worried that it would be too akin and we would likely bore from it quickly. And secondly, quite frankly, the gameplay footage I had seen seemed a bit rough, both in animation and movement as well as in general graphics and textures. But, I've always taught my son to be an educated consumer, and reviews started flowing in yesterday quite positively at metacritic.com and gamerankings.com, so I let him go through with the purchase.

After he had his quick fill of the game and headed off to bed, I threw the disc into the 360 for about an hour worth of gaming time. So that's first point - this is a very limited sampling of what the game has to offer. I'll concede that. The intro to the game was very well done. Both my wife and I thought we were watching a movie. One thing that struck out immediately was the language. A bit of a turn off to be honest - I don't need f-bombs every other minute to get the point that it's a dirty, viscereal environment that is being painted. But the CGI was well done, and the story seemed authentic.

I enjoyed the manner in which the game is set up as a flashback to a series of events that you need to unwind. Very 'Jason Bourne' and fits well. The whole 'web of intrigue' is very well done. I can see that it will be a large draw to me personally to hunt down the people and fill out the story, and will keep me moving forward in the game. The same quality of CGI is there, and that's a good thing.

The overall mechanics of the gameplay seem pretty standard. Attacks and jumps with the face buttons, targetting with a trigger - no real deviations from a tried input model. However, what did strike me was the overall speed. Without someone targetted, it is absurdly fast. Too fast at least at the start. It may be something I get accustomed to, but I found myself standing in place for a fraction of a second while I tried to figure out where the enemies were on the screen (since they were intermixed with a gazillion peds as well). When you do target someone, then the game slows down to almost to slow of a speed. Again, maybe I'll get used to it, or maybe it's appropriate when you get more and different powers. But for the time being, it didn't make for a terribly pleasant experience.

With that said, the whole 'absorption' idea is stellar. The first time you morph into someone and pull the wool over the enemies eyes, so to speak, was great. I can see it creating a very tactical aspect to the game, should someone like that (I personally do - I'd rather take an elegant route to a mission than barge in and just beat everyone into submission). I'm holding strong hope that it's leverged heavily throughout the entire game.

And then...yes, you've heard this before, the graphics. I know this is a sandbox game. I know there is a TON of stuff going on at once. I know gameplay > graphics, by and large. However, at some point lack of grahpics can detract from the gameplay experience because they are so attention grabbing that you can't help but pay attention to them. Case in point - the first time I'm running up a building, I caught myself thinking about the bland texture. No sheen on the windows, no terraces or anything for that matter to break up the flat northern face of the skyscraper.

Final verdict? Too early to tell. Will the powers yet-to-be unlocked help make the speed of the game feel more natural? Will the missions vary enough and, with the help of a solid story, minimize my attention from the lackluster graphics? I don't know, but at least at this point the game has sold me on finding out. That's a good first step.